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Who Will Replace Elop?

The news that Stephen Elop is leaving Microsoft is hardly a surprise -- Elop was believed to have been coveting a CEO job for a long time and now he has one.

Elop will take the reins of Nokia Sept. 21, leaving yet another void in the executive ranks at Microsoft. In addition to looking to fill the hole left by the departure of Robbie Bach, who headed Redmond's Entertainment and Devices business, now CEO Steve Ballmer will oversee the Microsoft Business Division until he names a successor.

In an e-mail to employees announcing Elop's departure, Ballmer pointed to MBD's bench, including Chris Capossela, Kurt DelBene, Amy Hood and Kirill Tatarinov, who will report to him until a successor is named.

It's been a few months though since Bach was ousted. Will Ballmer take as long to replace Elop? Or might he use the change to re-organize the different business groups at Microsoft?

What's your prediction? Drop me a line at [email protected].

Posted by Jeffrey Schwartz on September 10, 2010


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